As employees, we're supposed to stress that the use of the WC is for more than quick grammar checks and people who are deemed "poor" or "average" writers. We want all types of writers to come here, including the really good ones! As someone who campaigned for creative writers in the writing center all summer, I can safely say I would like to work with more than just dry rhetorical analyses full of grammatical errors every once in awhile.
SO, I was disturbed when an English major friend of mine relayed her English professor's words from a class she had last year. I don't know who the English prof was, but the message to his students was something like this: "You, as English majors, should never need to use the Writing Center. If you need the Writing Center, it means you're in the wrong major. You shouldn't even be going there for help with more abstract topics because a 'too many cooks spoil the broth' situation will occur."
Maybe I'm looking at this unfairly, and it's only this one professor who feels this way, and not the whole department. As a PW major, I can't say for sure what's going on there. All I know is I find it disturbing that someone as obviously well-versed in the art of writing as an English professor would feel the need to demean what we do here at the WC. Maybe he really has no idea, or maybe he honestly believes that there is no room for improvement (from an outside source like the WC) when it comes to his English students.
Perhaps the Writing Center needs to make a point out of informing MSU writing programs (English, PW, Communications, etc) what we're really here for. Otherwise, a lot of students (and professors) will probably be walking around campus with the idea that another pair of eyes can only do damage to their papers.
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You may be right. The
You may be right. The professor probably doesn't understand what we do--remember, this is who North was writing to (I know, that was 20+ years ago and it's sad to think things haven't changed more than that, but.....). Unfortunately, people who think like this don't "hear" general announcements or explanations, they have to be won over in very specific one-on-one situations--and sometimes even that doesn't work. I say students who know better should speak up whenever they can.
I completely agree, Lori. I
I completely agree, Lori.
I hear about this kind of stuff all the time. I know that there is a lot of outreach by Trixie to departments all over campus but think of our sessions and conversations with students as part of that outreach as well. Maybe some people will never see the light, but we can definitely keep getting the word out about the kinds of things that we do at the Writing Center.
I might just get a little frustrating at times to have to continually explain that the Writing Center is, as you say, "for more than just quick grammar checks and people who are deemed 'poor' or 'average' writers."
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